Cooking makes me feel good. However, having said that, I must also admit that perhaps i wouldnt enjoy it as much had i had to cook every day. i am blessed to have a help who cooks decent enough food. but on days that i get back stressed and tired from work, i do like stirring up a warm meal to cheer me up. The whole process of slicing veggies, flavouring the meat, stirring the pot from time to time, the aromas filling the house, helps to gradually soothe nerves and gently calms you down. Another thing that i do while cooking, is putting in a prayer. For instance, when i was cooking for my brothers on Bhai Phonta, I put in a special prayer for each of them while cooking the meal. Somehow i was able to focus on my prayer better and the meal turned out really delicious.
This is no ritual. It is just something that i like doing, and i believe it works miracles. Whenever you pray for someone else, you feel good, and if you are feeling happy, chances are what you are making is going to be good. And this cheer in you passes on to your guests and gets transferred through them to other people they meet. So go ahead and spread this cheer this festive season.
Here is a simple recipe that you can try:
Baked Curd
Ingredients
1 tin of condensed milk
1 lt milk
750g curd
saffron, nuts, raisins to flavour
Method
1) hang curd in a muslin cloth for at least an hour to drain out the water.
2) Whip it together with milk and condensed milk
3) Pour it out in a baking dish and sprinkle saffron, nuts, and raisins.
4) Bake it in an oven at 100F for about an hour.
5) Take it out, and let it cool to room temperature.
6) Refrigerate.
And of course, while making it put in a prayer, and let me know how you feel.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
refreshing drink
So, went for my first cards party last night. Yes, first cards party. I didn't know how to play cards, but I learnt, I played, I conquered, and I lost. And I enjoyed. But that's not the point of this post. The idea is to talk about the morning after the party and my cup of tea. Having fallen out of the habit of late nights (unlike the old me, now I go to bed early and wake up at the crack of dawn, well almost, by 6), last evening took a toll on this morning. Iwoke up late, felt miserable, tired, ill, and irritable. So I tried what I had recently read - "have a cup of hot water with ginger and lemon, to help digestion and to perk up" - and it really did help.
I am a great believer of the benefits of hot water. It aids disgestion, it keeps you alert, it improves your metabollic rate, it keeps you hydrated, and also helps your body to detox. It is far far better than having numerous cups of coffee to stay awake. You stay awake and fresh. So to improvise the benefits of hot water i try to flavour it with different ingredients and that's how i started experimenting with fruit tea infusions. I have tried several store-bought infusions. The spicy orange variant from Typhoo is delicious. Inspired by these, i decided to skip the tea bags and experiment with some fresh brews at home, and am very impressed with the results. Here's the recipe that i have concocted:
Ingredients
1/2 an apple
1 stick of cinnamon
1 clove
1/2-inch slice of ginger
1/2 lemon/lime
1 teaspoon of Darjeeling tea leaves
1 mug water
Method
1) Peel and dice the apple.
2) Heat the water in a saucepan and add the apple slices, cinnamon, clove, and ginger to it and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
3) Strain the concoction, and add the tea leaves to it. Let it brew for about a minute or two. Strain it out and add a squeeze of the lemon juice.
Serves: 1 person
This refreshing drink is loaded with vitamin C, is a great anti-oxidant, and delicious.
You could try replacing the apple with any fruit of your choice. Try strawberries, orange, pineapple, peach, or cherries.
Find out what's your cup of tea.
I am a great believer of the benefits of hot water. It aids disgestion, it keeps you alert, it improves your metabollic rate, it keeps you hydrated, and also helps your body to detox. It is far far better than having numerous cups of coffee to stay awake. You stay awake and fresh. So to improvise the benefits of hot water i try to flavour it with different ingredients and that's how i started experimenting with fruit tea infusions. I have tried several store-bought infusions. The spicy orange variant from Typhoo is delicious. Inspired by these, i decided to skip the tea bags and experiment with some fresh brews at home, and am very impressed with the results. Here's the recipe that i have concocted:
Ingredients
1/2 an apple
1 stick of cinnamon
1 clove
1/2-inch slice of ginger
1/2 lemon/lime
1 teaspoon of Darjeeling tea leaves
1 mug water
Method
1) Peel and dice the apple.
2) Heat the water in a saucepan and add the apple slices, cinnamon, clove, and ginger to it and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
3) Strain the concoction, and add the tea leaves to it. Let it brew for about a minute or two. Strain it out and add a squeeze of the lemon juice.
Serves: 1 person
This refreshing drink is loaded with vitamin C, is a great anti-oxidant, and delicious.
You could try replacing the apple with any fruit of your choice. Try strawberries, orange, pineapple, peach, or cherries.
Find out what's your cup of tea.
alternate remedy
Have you heard of Bach Flower Remedy? It is a branch of alternate medicine developed in the 1930s by a homeopath called Edmund Bach. These medicines address emotional issues, and in the process also heal physical ailments. I got introduced to this a few months ago and am much intrigued and impressed by their beautiful names, and almost mystical properties. If medicine could be poetry, then this branch of medicine is the only possible example.
My every season fashionably starts with a horrible bout of cold. first there will be a series of sneezes, followed by running nose, and if i don't take an anti-allergic instantly, it blows into a massive cold accompanied with fever, body ache, and sore throat. recovery takes at least a week and antibiotics are the only solution. however, last year most reluctantly, at the insistance of my husband i tried homeopathy and was pleasantly surprised. I was able to cure a full blown cold attack without antibiotics! and i didn't end up feeling weak and irritable - the usual side effects of anti-biotics. rather i felt kind of "detoxed". along with the traditional homeopathy medicines i was also prescribed a Bach Flower Remedy - Rescue Remedy and it really worked wonders. i had to travel with fever and cold, and it was two drops of this wonder medicine which kept me going all through.
for the last one year i have hardly taken any alopathic medicines and have relied completely on homeopathy and bach flower remedy, and now i swear by them.
Another Bach Flower Remedy that has become my favourite is Crab Apple, it helps get rid of anything that you don't want, it's a cleanser. so you can take for cold, for fever, for warts, pimples, and you can even add a few drops in your mop when cleaning the house. Believe it or not, i have a keloid and it has reduced considerbaly after taking Crab Apple.
One thing i have realised after taking these medicines is the fact that you need to believe in them for them to work wonders. sounds vague? but try it to believe it. read up as much as you can on the subject and give it a chance. i am sure you wont be dissapointed.
My every season fashionably starts with a horrible bout of cold. first there will be a series of sneezes, followed by running nose, and if i don't take an anti-allergic instantly, it blows into a massive cold accompanied with fever, body ache, and sore throat. recovery takes at least a week and antibiotics are the only solution. however, last year most reluctantly, at the insistance of my husband i tried homeopathy and was pleasantly surprised. I was able to cure a full blown cold attack without antibiotics! and i didn't end up feeling weak and irritable - the usual side effects of anti-biotics. rather i felt kind of "detoxed". along with the traditional homeopathy medicines i was also prescribed a Bach Flower Remedy - Rescue Remedy and it really worked wonders. i had to travel with fever and cold, and it was two drops of this wonder medicine which kept me going all through.
for the last one year i have hardly taken any alopathic medicines and have relied completely on homeopathy and bach flower remedy, and now i swear by them.
Another Bach Flower Remedy that has become my favourite is Crab Apple, it helps get rid of anything that you don't want, it's a cleanser. so you can take for cold, for fever, for warts, pimples, and you can even add a few drops in your mop when cleaning the house. Believe it or not, i have a keloid and it has reduced considerbaly after taking Crab Apple.
One thing i have realised after taking these medicines is the fact that you need to believe in them for them to work wonders. sounds vague? but try it to believe it. read up as much as you can on the subject and give it a chance. i am sure you wont be dissapointed.
wonder serum
Hi, I am back. Yes, after a long time and it is nothing but my laziness that kept me away from the space. However, last night I read something... basically a guidance by my mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, where he urges us to keep moving forward always. Even if it's just a little, just a fraction, just about five minutes extra, the idea is to push yourself and move ahead a little from where you were yesterday as a human being. I had promised myself to write at least a page every day but have not done so, and three years have passed by. However, what's gone is gone, but I can take control of the present and do what i intend to do. I want to write something every day and hope that it creates value in my life every day.
I will start off with writing about a wonderful serum that I re-discovered last week. I say "re-discovered" because I have known about it for about a year now and have appreciated it since, but recently i have found it far better that i originally thought it to be. I'm talking about Forest Essentials' Soundarya serum. Made with saffron, turmeric, haldi, and gold bhasma it's great for dry and sensitive skin. It nourishes the skin and gives it a radiant glow. Try massaging your face with the serum before a shower and see how your skin glows.
I have been aware of this complexion enhancing property but what has caught my attention now is its amazing healing property. Last week my chin had got bruised while i was epilating the area, and the toner that i applied to soothe the area made matters worse... at the end of it i had a horrible burn on my face! I started applying an antiseptic cream. It helped but i my skin felt it needed something more moisturising. I remembered the soundarya serum and started applying that on the burn, and believe it or not in two days (without using the antiseptic cream) the burn has healed and has left no mark!
i wouldn't ask you to experiement with it on wounds or burns, but you should totally use it this winter to keep your skin looking healthy and young.
Check out Forest Essentials website to know more about the serum
I will start off with writing about a wonderful serum that I re-discovered last week. I say "re-discovered" because I have known about it for about a year now and have appreciated it since, but recently i have found it far better that i originally thought it to be. I'm talking about Forest Essentials' Soundarya serum. Made with saffron, turmeric, haldi, and gold bhasma it's great for dry and sensitive skin. It nourishes the skin and gives it a radiant glow. Try massaging your face with the serum before a shower and see how your skin glows.
I have been aware of this complexion enhancing property but what has caught my attention now is its amazing healing property. Last week my chin had got bruised while i was epilating the area, and the toner that i applied to soothe the area made matters worse... at the end of it i had a horrible burn on my face! I started applying an antiseptic cream. It helped but i my skin felt it needed something more moisturising. I remembered the soundarya serum and started applying that on the burn, and believe it or not in two days (without using the antiseptic cream) the burn has healed and has left no mark!
i wouldn't ask you to experiement with it on wounds or burns, but you should totally use it this winter to keep your skin looking healthy and young.
Check out Forest Essentials website to know more about the serum
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